Beruflich Dokumente
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1. In what ways were the past political traditions of Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia
In this essay I will argue that the main ways that the past political traditions of Poland,
Hungary and Czechoslovakia were reflected in those countries’ political systems from 1945
to 1948, before greater Stalinist influence took over, which ended any existing continuity. I
will draw on the writings of Hodos and Schopflin among others in support of my argument. I
will first the historical conditions that gave rise to the past political traditions in these three
countries and describe of these traditions, then outline their political systems from 1945 and
1989 and finally observe how the latter reflect any historical political traditions.
The countries we are concerned with form East Central Europe, which has been argued to
form a transition zone from Western Europe to Eastern Europe in its history of political and
development, I shall begin by outlining some of the characteristic features of the Western
European system, then those of the Eastern European system, then finally how they relate in
Western Europe emerged from the aftermath of the Frankish-Carolingian Empire and was
shaped by a combination of Roman law as well as Germanic tribal customs. Its key features
included a feudal system based on mutual rights and obligations set on a contractual
structure, the development of the concept of human dignity, and the development of
The contractual and reciprocal structure of feudal system has been argued to play an
important role in the shaping of later liberties in Western Europe. The institution of
contracts allowed vassals to assert their rights to their lords and were gradually expanded to
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ordinary members of society over the centuries, and eventually came to play an important
role in early modern liberal thought in the work of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.
The view of human dignity in mediaeval Western Europe was shaped by both Christian
theology and the rediscovery of Aristotle, with the basic idea being that man was made in
the image and likeness of God and played a special role in creation. (Dales 1977) In actual
practice, it meant that vassals pledged their oaths of fealty on more equitable terms with
their lords compared to what was happening elsewhere in the world. The Western European
vassal would not go on his knees to kiss the hem of his lord’s dress, but instead approach
him with head erect, touch palms and exchange kisses. While mostly symbolic in its earlier
stages, it did give rise to the concept of human dignity as an element of political relations.
(Hodos 1999)
dignity, as well as technological innovations in agriculture and other crafts fostered the
development of towns and cities in Western Europe where division of labour increased
rapidly. This gave rise to the development of more integrated trade networks and more
centralised economies based around cities, in particular allowing for the rise of central
Eastern Europe had a vastly different development of political and socioeconomic relations
from Western Europe from its very beginnings. Rather than being formed from the
amalgamation of the collapsed Western Roman Empire and Germanic tribes, it was formed
from Slavic tribes with influences from Byzantium as well as eastern nomadic steppe
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Hierarchical state-serfdom
Hierarchical state-serfdom involved princes and dukes ruling over non-hereditary who ruled
over non-hereditary boyars who in turn ruled over rural landlords who ruled over peasants
and serfs. (Hodos 1999) This can be contrasted with the contractual, more horizontal
While trading contact with the Hanseatic cities of Western Europe in the north of Eastern
Europe did foster development of autonomous cities with urban economies similar to
Western Europe, the Mongol conquests in the 13th century and the subsequent expansion of
the power of Muscovy after the fall of the Mongols put an end to this development. (Aulin
hierarchical relations and tightening of feudal bonds, with lords gaining more powers over
their peasants and serfs, such as binding serfs to their estates. (Hodos 1999)
Central Eastern Europe came to the attention of Western Europe starting from around 1000
CE and was subsequently subject to waves of Christianisation and settlement from Western
Europe. At the same time, various Western political structures, such as recognition of the
reciprocity of rulers and ruled and division of power, were imported in an incomplete, hybrid
form. These structures were imposed top-down when it benefited local elites rather than
(Schopflin 1990)
The weak and incomplete nature of transplanted Western European structures was coupled
with influence from Eastern Europe to give rise to subsequent East Central European
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political traditions. The break from Western European structures became decisive around
The Second Serfdom took place almost simultaneously across Poland, Bohemia and Hungary
and was characterised by limiting the mobility of peasants along the lines of Eastern
These conditions led to the development of a distinct East Central European political
tradition shared by Poland, Hungary and Bohemia. These traditions include etatism, façade
Etatism
Etatism in Eastern Central Europe was characterized by the state existing as a far more
dominant and hegemonic compared to Western Europe and arose from the historical
Façade politics
This etatism in turn fostered the development of façade politics. Western Europe was seen
as the criterion of modernity against which East European elites measured themselves.
However, these elites saw reform simplistically and implemented only pro forma changes.
For example, criticism of the state by the press was allowed and courts were allowed to
deliver politically uninfluenced judgements but the state, controlled by the power elites,
could still control elections in their favour. (Schopflin, The Political Traditions of Eastern
Europe 1990)
The course of East Central European society inhibited the development of autonomous cities
with a burgher class of traders and artisans. Entrepreneurial work was disdained by most of
the indigenous population of Poland and Hungary by both the peasants and nobles with
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foreigners like Englishmen, Jews and Germans handling most of the work. In Bohemia the
nobility did not share this disdain for entrepreneurship. (Hodos 1999)
I have described the historical background behind the development of East Central European
political traditions as well as described these traditions themselves. I will now move on to an
outline of the political systems of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia from 1945-1989 and
The post-war period from 1945 to 1947 in these three countries saw the development of
“People’s Democracies” which involved the rule of Communist parties allied to the USSR
with a coalition of smaller parties. Economically they featured a mix of state and private
sectors described as “nonsocialist” and socially they aimed for the abolition of feudal and
fascist structures.
After 1947, with the advent of the Cold War, these “People’s Democracies” were destroyed
to serve the purposes of more direct control under Moscow. (Hodos 1999)
I argue that all the traditions described above were continued throughout the period of
“People’s Democracies” and were only destroyed after that period with greater Stalinist
Czechoslovakia of the three countries was the only one to be free of Soviet occupation after
the war and had a democratic tradition from the inter-war period. The various parties, even
the Catholic nonsocialist party, framed themselves in opposition to the capitalist mode of
production and the government was characterized by land reform, coalition and
Land reform and nationalization fit into the interests of the anti-entrepreneurial peasant
class hostile to the complexity of capitalism as well as increased the power of the state and
provided a façade of increased democratization while being mainly pro forma in terms of
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party politics.These three pillars of People’s Democracy are therefore clearly aligned with
the historical political traditions I described above of etatism and the interests of the
peasant class.
The People’s Democracies in Poland and Hungary likewise were characterized by similar
redistribution of agricultural land. The main difference here was from the presence of Soviet
occupation, which led to a manipulated election being held in Hungary and no elections
being allowed in Poland at all, as opposed to Czechoslovakia where a free election was held
in 1946. (Hodos 1999) Nevertheless, the historical political traditions in these countries were
still continued.
After the American announcement of the Marshall Plan to provide economic help to rebuild
Europe, Stalin began to consolidate the Communist parties in East Central Europe under the
control of Moscow. The various independent parties in these countries were dismantled or
made into puppets. After this period, forced industrialization was imposed by Moscow,
destroying much of the influence of the former peasants, the powers of the states were
eroded by Moscow, and attempts at even giving a façade of democratization were ended.
Conclusion
In this essay I have argued that the historical political traditions in Poland, Hungary and
Czechoslovkia from 1945-1989 mainly were reflected in the early post-war period and the
1885 words
Bibliography
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and Nonmaterial Values. Helsinki: Springer Science & Business Media.
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Dales, Richard. 1977. "A Medieval View of Human Dignity." Journal of the History of Ideas 38 (4):
557-572.
Epstein, S.R. 2000. Freedom and Growth: The rise of states and markets in Europe 1300-1750. New
York: Routledge.
Hodos, George. 1999. The East-Central European Region: An Historical Outline. Vienna: Praeger.
Schopflin, George. 1993. "Culture and Identity in Post-Communist Europe." In Developments in East
European Politics, by Stephen White, Judy Batt and Paul Lewis, 16-35. London: Macmillan
Press.
Schopflin, George. 1990. "The Political Traditions of Eastern Europe." Daedalus 119 (1): 55-90.
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